Getting Started with Assessment Two The Mini Thesis ENGG851 S. Nikolic Recap on your learning The Literature Planner — Your first assigned task was to search for literature based on your topic — As a result you should — Have read at least 20 articles (journals, conferences papers, book chapters etc.) — Have developed broad knowledge associated with your topic — Developed a familiarity with best approaches to search, use various databases and consider quality — Have an appreciation for the design, findings and gaps from previous studies Recap on your learning The Mind Map — Your second assigned task was to build a Mind Map — The Mind Map shows the connection between your research question and all the literature that you have read The Introduction Chapter — You identified a gap that was of interest to you to explore — Summarises the literature you read and positions the importance of your topic — Leads the reader to your research question and why it is important Assessment Two – What you need to do The structure — You will write a mini thesis stopping at the research design section. That is you won’t actually be doing an experiment — The mini thesis involves writing an abstract, introduction (that you will improve upon from assessment one), literature review, research design and questions. — Instructions on how to complete these tasks is outlined throughout the lecture notes — You must also submit your updated Literature Planner — Important: — Ensure that you read the submission guidelines very carefully. It explains what you need to do — Study the marking rubric very carefully. It explains how you gain marks — Take note that this assessment task is worth 50% of the final mark in your subject — Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Major plagiarism will result in marks of zero! You are warned! Assessment Two – What you need to do The Literature Review — The literature review must expand the story you started in the introduction chapter but in much greater detail. — The key to the literature review is to show higher order skills – analysis, synthesis and evaluation — This is based on writing your understanding and NOT copy and paste! — To achieve this you must critique the literature! Look at the examples provided in the lectures to guide you. — Tip: Use the literature review checklist found in your lecture notes to ensure that you have covered everything you need Assessment Two – What you need to do Research Design — In your literature planner you have outlined many research designs — You must use these designs in answering the research design questions — Do not go overboard, look at what is expected from you! — Make sure you use the headings provided! — Note: It is very common for students to do what they think they should do instead of doing what has been asked of them. Don’t be one of these students! Assessment Two – Final Tips Want a good mark? — Success is obtained through following the instructions provided — Read the submission guidelines very carefully! — Pay particular attention to the marking rubric — Do not leave all your work to the last minute. Try and submit early! — This is particularly important to give you time to resubmit to Turnitin should you need it! — If you need help get help! Try and make the most from the Q&A Tutorial session — PAY PARTICULAR attention to lecture 4 for how plagiarism is detected. Your mark will be zero or close to zero if work is not in your own words — REMEMBER the purpose of this subject is to demonstrate your higher order skills – analysis, synthesis and evaluation!!!!!